SOUTH AFRICA

White Knight passes blame on ‘ineffective’ hand sanitiser


VIDEO Substandard sanitisers scrutinised

There is growing concern about the safety of hand sanitisers. But, South Africa is reportedly behind the curve in putting in place measures to ensure products are safe. Lise Korsten from the Centre for Excellence in Food Security at the University of Pretoria speaks to Jeremy Maggs on this. Courtesy #DStv403

Cathryn Boyes Social Media Reporter

The company behind a popular sanitiser blasted as “ineffective” by the consumer watchdog has blamed the product’s manufacturer.

On Thursday, consumer watchdog Choice urged Australians not to buy White Knight antibacterial hand sanitiser after it failed independent lab testing.

Choice said customers who had already bought the product from United petrol stations and online should “stop using it immediately”, as it did not contain enough alcohol to be effective.


Senior campaigner Dean Price said the sanitiser claimed to contain 75 per cent alcohol, but lab testing found it was only 52 per cent.

According to Choice, an hand sanitiser must be 60-80 per cent alcohol, depending on the type of alcohol used.
Tweet from @choiceaustralia

The New Daily contacted White Knight to see if the company was aware of the discrepancy between what its product claimed and what was in the bottle.

White Knight responded with a statement blaming the manufacturer of its sanitiser, Teddie Group, and listing the group’s other sanitiser brands.

“The Teddie Group Pty Ltd manufactured the product for White Knight and had given assurances to White Knight of its quality and alcohol percentage,” it said.

“The volumes of ethanol supplied to Teddie Group were also reconciled to the production purchased from them.”
Tweet from @RitaTunstall

According to its website, Teddie Group makes health and beauty products for several brands, including Linea Derma, Lior, Wipe it Now, Nueo and Askmedica.

Mr Price said the amount of alcohol in the White Knight hand sanitiser was “well below” the amount required to be effective against COVID-19 and similar viruses.


“If you’ve bought White Knight sanitiser, we recommend you stop using it immediately,” he said.

The New Daily understands White Knight and United Petroleum have removed the product from shelves, and plan to return it to the manufacturer.
I bought six bottles of this – what now?

Some good news for customers who have stocked up on White Knight sanitiser – the company will refund your purchase.

White Knight said customers should return the product to get refund. They will need to return to their place of purchase, with a receipt.

The New Daily has contacted Teddie Group for comment.